Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease with polymorphic expression. B cells have an essential contribution in immune system activation via the production of different cytokines and functioning as potent antigen-presenting cells. Therefore, a drug that particularly targets B cells may represent an ideal therapeutic approach for SLE. Rituximab (RTX), an anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody causing transient B-cell depletion, has been used to manage SLE. This study aims to assess Rituximab effects on lupus nephritis (LN) patients when added to conventional immunosuppressants. Twenty four patients, 15-32 years old, with class III/IV/V LN were involved in this study. All were on steroids before lupus nephritis occurrence. They were given rituximab induction therapy and mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) maintenance therapy. RTX was indicated for refractory and relapsing SLE. Several investigations done before and after RTX treatment and in the last follow up (done one year after starting Rituximab). Those included protein in urine, serum creatinine, double stranded DNA, C3, C4, and Estimated Glomerular Filtration Rate (eGFR). Proteinuria decreased significantly after RTX treatment and in the last measurement (P=0.01 and P=0.001, respectively). Serum creatinine significantly decreased only in the last measurement (P=0.02). Double stranded DNA decreased remarkably after treatment (P=0.01) with a further decrease in the last measurement (P=0.006). C3 and C4 increased after treatment but the increase was significant only for C3 (P=0.002) and this increase continues till the last measurement (P=0.0006). Active urine sediments found in fifteen patients and disappeared after RTX treatment. Rituximab can be promising in treating lupus nephritis when used along with traditional immunosuppressants. It can reduce disease activity and improve renal function in such patients.
Background: Pregnancy is a physiological condition that affects the general and oral health.It is also associated with an increase in oxidative stress, which may presispose to oral diseases including dental caries. Aim of the study: This study aimed to measure salivary protein carbonyl, glutathione peroxidase and selenium levels of women who are pregnant and their association with dental caries in comparison to non-pregnant women, and to find out the mostly affected biomarker of oxidative stress during pregnancy. Subjects, materials and methods: A cross-sectional research was performed for a samples of 30 pregnant and 30 non-pregnant women who were chosen from city of Baghdad's Primary Healthcare Centers. Both groups aged 25-30 years. In
... Show MoreThis study was undertaken to prepare Nano zinc oxide (ZnO) by precipitation and microemulsion methods. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), FTIR spectrometry, atomic force microscopy (AFM), and Brunauer Emmett Teller (BET) surface area were the techniques employed for the preparation. The particle size of prepared nano ZnO was 69.15nm and 88.49nm for precipitation and microemulsion methods, respectively, which corresponded to the BET surface area 20.028 and 16.369m2/g respectively. The activity of prepared nano ZnO as a photocatalyst was estimated by the removal of ampicillin (Amp) under visible light. This study, therefore, examined the effect of pH in the range of 5-11, initial concen
... Show MoreAbstract
Public debt has posed a major challenge to both developing and developed countries, which has focused attention on the optimal limits (threshold of debt) and its determinants.
The study examines the effect of the Public bank debt on the foreign reserves and the work of the foreign reserve as a limitation on the process of bank debt (part of the internal debt) for the period (2017-2004), in addition to finding the type and nature of the relationship between them according to the hypotheses of the study, Public bank debt and foreign reserves.
The study was based on data from the Iraqi banking sector, which showed that Iraq has a foreign reserve in line with internat
... Show MoreBackground: The aim of this study was to evaluate the expression of fibroblast growth factor-2 and Heparanase in salivary pleomorphic adenoma, and to correlate the two studied markers with each other and with clinicopathological parameters including: age, sex, tumor site and histopathological presentation. Methods: Sections of twenty five formalin-fixed paraffin embedded tissue blocks specimens of salivary pleomorphic adenoma were immunostained using monoclonal antibodies (Fibroblast growth factor-2 and Heparanase) to assess their expression in this tumor. Results: The expression of fibroblast growth factor-2 and Heparanase were positive in all pleomorphic adenoma cases (100%). The positive expression of fibroblast growth factor-2 was signi
... Show MoreUrban Samarra City is characterized by high population density and wide variation in land use, has led to many environmental problems, for this purpose the environmental assessment became an urgent need for surface and ground water at study area. Three water samples from Tigris River and six groundwater samples were collected and analyzed for heavy metals as Fe, Mn, Zn, Cd, Cu, Co ,Pb, Ni, Cr, As, Mo, Hg, Al, Li, Be, Se, V, U, Sr. Most heavy metal concentrations have shown higher level than standards, such as Fe, Mn, Cd, Pb, Ni, Cr, As, Mo, Hg, Al ,Li ,Be, Se, V, that might be due to anthropogenic activities such as agricultural and the heavy use of fertilizers, besides other activities amo
... Show MoreA critics ,Shugaa Muslim Al-Aany, has specific critical principles in his branch
classifications for the type of the novel that is linked with its sources and what is adopted
of critical approaches and curriculums. The novel by its type as a literary one has
occupied Al-Any's critical importance very much ,he has divided it historically according
to its historical development ,the impact of dr.Abd Al-Muhassen Tha Badr's divisions on
Al-Any cannot hidden.
In his speech about the origin of novel and story art generally , Al-Any becomes
between the acknowledgement of the affect of Al-Mgma in rising of this art and denied its
affect at last. He has classified the novel also as a stylistic classification:(an impression
The theatre costume with the rest of the theatre show elements constitute a system of the meaning relations that produce a visual image that helps the recipient to decipher the theatre scene, let alone the manifestation of time in its levels (past, present, future) through the design construction of the theatre elements among which is the theatre costume. In order to know the way of manifesting time through the formulation of the theatre costumes, the research question has been put as follows: how to manifest time through the design construction for the theatre costumes unit, from which the research objective is derived as follows: Revealing the possibility of the designing unit of the costumes in manifesting the levels of time wit
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J. Fac. Med. Baghdad 2023. Vol 65, No. 4
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Persuasion is a process studied by many scholars from the Greek time until the present. One persuasion strategy is metadiscourse, which refers to the writers' awareness of their text, the way they present themselves to the readers. The writers use metadiscourse markers to help the readers understand the real meaning of the text (Hyland 2005). The paper carries out a qualitative and quantitative analysis of the employment of persuasive metadiscourse markers in two English trade agreements and two Arabic agreements has provided in terms of Hyland's (2005) model of interactive and interactional markers. The aim is to find out whether all types of metadiscourse markers are used or not, and also to see whether English or Arabic employs
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